Legal Environment
The Saudi civil legal system is based on the Share’a, which is derived from the Quran, Sunna and Ejtihad. The commercial legal system differs very much from the civil system, but shares some basics. This system is more influenced by west in many ways, this due to the amount of international business that the country was involved in after the discovery of oil. In the absence of legal scholars in the earlier days and the need for some form of legal framework, adopting and modifying existing systems was the best solution. Over the course of the following years this system was modified to suit the both local and global purposes.
Copyright and Intellectual property laws have been in the Saudi legal system for a reasonable period of time, but until recently they where only enforced on printed materials. In recent years and with the increase of global trade in Saudi Arabia, many vendors called for better enforcement of these laws. The first steps taken in this matter were mainly concerned with the audio and video materials. Enforcement of these laws was successful to a great level. Unfortunately, until now software copyrights are still not enforced to the extent to what many vendors would like to see. There are no solid figures on the software piracy rate in the country, but estimates place it above 75%. Local software developers affected by this practice initiated the movement towards enforcement of software copyrights. Another force that is recently calling for stricter enforcement are global firms with joint ventures in the Kingdome, one such vendor is Microsoft Saudi Arabia. Effective enforcement of such laws is not expected any time soon, but at least a level awareness was achieved.
The Saudi legal system does not restrict Trans-Border data flows except if the data is considered "Inappropriate" or "Sensitive". Privacy is a very big issue in Saudi Arabia, but because citizens are not fully aware of how such information may be used it is not being observed. Nevertheless, once such information is put into use by businesses, the issue will be discussed and the citizens may make demand.
The Saudi market system is categorized as being a laissez-faire market. There is an obvious lack of standards and the product categorization processes seem to be unorganized especially when it comes to technology. Forexample, voice-processing products are somehow considered part of telephone systems parts and accessories, and therefore, may or not be subjected to relevant laws. At present, there are no technical standards except that the products need to conform with the local electric current, which is 127 volts, 60 hertz. Local sources revealed that the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) is considering the possibility of drafting standards for communications products in general. The draft standards are anticipated to be published in late 1998 or early 1999. In October 1995, SASO, in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce, issued new guidelines to control the quality of certain products imported into Saudi Arabia. The new program, the International Conformity Certification Program (ICCP) currently applies to 76 regulated products. The new ICCP program requires that certification be issued by one of SASO's 13 appointed laboratories in the United States for compliance with either SASO or other internationally recognized standards.